I have to blink a few times before I begin to comprehend.
"Toby," I mouth.
He stands there with his arms crossed. He looks like the devil with a grim smile on his face.
"Savannah," he says, and holds a hand out to me.
I don't take it. I just sit there, staring up at him.
He's handsome – I can't deny that. He's dark where Jared is light. But he's so much bigger and so much more frightening. The gleam in his eyes makes my stomach churn. Seeing me shattered on the ground amuses him.
"Come on, Sav," he says. "You're getting your pretty dress all dirty."
I hate that he's right.
Avoiding his hand, I drag myself to my feet. I don't want to touch him. Grass and dirt cling to my legs. My dress is soaking wet. I probably look like a drowned rat. Doesn't matter though. Toby doesn't get to see me broken again. And he damn sure doesn't get to break me.
I stand up straight, my feet planted.
"What are you doing here?" I ask him.
"You got my note?"
"Your note?" I blink, confused again. And then I realize that he's the one who sent me the clipping. He's the one who wanted me to come here and see Jared and Lexi together. I should have known, but I didn't even consider the possibility. The thought that Toby knows where I live makes my heart race though.
"How did you find me?"
"I followed Katrina to your place." He smiles. "I knew they'd kick you out of here sooner or later."
"I left on my own," I snap.
"You left because you were fucking Lexi Talbot's fiancé and she found out." He sneers at me.
The way he says that – as if what I did with Jared is cheap and sleazy like it was with him – makes me squirm uncomfortably. And that pisses me off all over again. I'm not sure if that's because I think he's right or because I hate that he's reminded me that Jared didn't really love me, that he chose Lexi. But I realize that I really have changed because I'm not afraid of Toby. Right here in this moment, all I want to do is punch him.
I glare at him instead, my hands clenched into fists at my sides.
"Come back to Italy with me, Savannah," he says. "I'll forget all about Corbit. We can start over."
He'll forget about Jared. As if I cheated on him. As if I'm the one who did something wrong. I didn't though. What he did to me isn't my fault. I stayed because he isolated me. He convinced me I had nowhere else to go. He abused me, manipulated and controlled me. And then he broke me and left me there – injured and in the hospital – to figure it out on my own.
That's not my fault. It's his.
The truth of that realization courses through me, ripping away the guilt and blame I've buried myself under for so long. He can't hurt me anymore. Not now. Not ever.
God, why did it take me so long to realize that?
To admit that I didn't deserve what he did to me, that I didn't ask for it?
He abused me.
And it's over now.
Done.
He can't hurt me anymore because I won't let him.
Every last ounce of power he held over me disappears, wiped away by the truth. By the realization that I gave him the power to hurt me, and I can take it away again. Right here, right now.
I'm free of him.
And I don't have to stand here and talk to the son of a bitch now.
"Go to hell," I snap, and push past him.
"Don't walk away from me." He grabs my arm, spinning me around. His fingers are painful vises, gripping so hard I think I'll have bruises. His eyes flash, sheer hatred burning through them.
"Let me go, Toby." I'm so proud of the fact my voice doesn't shake.
"You belong to me, Savannah."
"I don't belong to anyone," I yell, ripping my arm free of his grasp. "Especially not to you. You make me sick!" I don't know why I say this when I know it'll set him off, but I can't stop myself. The strength coursing through me makes me bold. So much bolder than I've ever been before. Everything I've wanted to say to him boils to the surface, and I can't stop the words from exploding from my lips.
"You're an abusive, manipulative piece of shit," I tell him. "You spent two years torturing me, but you don't get to do that anymore. I'm free of you and I will never take you back. I will never be that person again. So you need to get the hell off of this property and go back to Italy where you belong because I'm done with you."
Toby reacts instantly to my outburst. Hatred flashes across his face again, turning dark brown a violent black color. He takes a step toward me, and lifts his hand to hit me. I'm still not afraid though. I'm furious.
How dare he come back here after everything he did to me and raise his hand to me? He has no right.
None.
"What are you going to do? Hit me?" I ask him. "Is that why you're here? Because you need someone to slap around now? Making me crawl to you on my hands and knees to suck your dick wasn't enough? Forcing me to let you sodomize me while I cried and begged you to stop wasn't enough? Leaving bruises on me and making me hate myself wasn't enough? Trashing everything we owned and making me feel worthless didn't do enough for you? Now you're going to hit me, too? You're pathetic, Toby."
"You little bitch," he snarls, taking a step toward me.
"Touch her and I'll kill you right here," Jared says from behind me. His tone is pure murder. He means every word.
Toby spins to face him, his hand still raised to strike me.
I turn, too.
Jared and Stewart stand side-by-side, their arms crossed over their chests. Jared's face is terrifying, pure murder stamped across every inch, but when he meets my gaze, his eyes soften.
"Come here, beautiful girl," he murmurs, holding out a hand to me.
And stupid me… I take it. I let him pull me to his side, away from Toby.
"You okay?" he asks me as if we're the only two people in the world. He reaches up and cups my face in his palm, staring at me intently.
Part of me wants to scream at him that I'm never going to be okay again and it's his fault, but I nod instead.
"Don't tell me you actually fell for the frigid little bitch, Corbit," Toby says, sneering at us.
I flinch, not because of Toby but because of the reminder that Jared doesn't love me. It hurts worse than anything Toby can say to me. He's just a sad, pathetic little boy. A coward.
Jared flicks his eyes past me to Toby and then back to me again.
"Go with Stewart," he says, his voice soft.
"Jared–"
"Go, Savannah."
I hesitate for a long moment, afraid of what he's going to do to Toby once I leave. I'm not afraid for Toby – he deserves whatever happens to him. But even now, I don't want Jared to get in trouble over him. Toby's not worth it. And even if Jared doesn't love me, he's a good person. One who would never put his hands on a woman or do the things that Toby did to me. One who would kill a guy like Toby if it kept someone else safe. He's not going to let Toby walk away from this scot free.
Toby might not live to walk away at all.
"You'll come crawling back to me when he's through with you, Savannah," Toby calls to me when I turn to walk away.
I don't even bother telling him that Jared's already through with me and I still haven't gone crawling back. I never will. As much as I want to hate Jared for marrying Lexi, I know I owe him for that. He helped me break free of Toby once and for all, showed me how I should be treated.
Toby doesn't deserve that explanation though, so I just shake my head and walk away.
Stewart walks a step behind me, a living wall between me and whatever's about to happen back there.
"Jared's going to kill him if you don't stop him," I mutter to him. "I can leave by myself."
He grunts, still following me.
I strain to hear what Jared and Toby are saying, but the soft patter of rain on the roof of the mansion drowns out whatever's happening between them. I give up trying to hear and head toward the mansion to get Chris, but Stewart
cuts me off.
"Come with me," he says, turning to go around the side of the house to the driveway.
I start to argue with him, but I don't really want to go back inside anyway. I just want to go home and soak away the last few hours. Stewart can find Chris and save Toby's miserable life after I leave.
"Fine." I wave for him to lead the way.
My heels sink into the mud when we step off the sidewalk. Every step I take requires me to curl my toes and jerk the heel from the mud. I haven't exercised in God only knows how long, and we're not even halfway around the mansion when my legs start aching.
"Shit," I curse, stumbling over a rock.
Stewart slows and offers me his arm without a word. He's always so stoic, so quiet. Even before I left for Italy, he rarely smiled. He's maybe thirty, but he seems so much older.
"Were you ever in the MIB?" I ask him.
He just stares at me.
"Guess not then."
When we finally make it around the side of the house, he leads me toward an SUV parked at the very front of the line of cars littering the property.
"My car is over there." I point.
He just lifts a brow.
What is it with men telling me what I am and am not going to do? Or looking at me like they're telling me what I am and am not going to do? I've about had enough of it. I'm cold. I'm tired. I'm soaked. I've had to face Jared and Lexi and Toby tonight. I just want to make sure Jared doesn't kill Toby, and then go home.
"Please, Miss Savannah. Jared wants you to stay with me."
Dammit.
I give in and make my way toward the SUV.
Stewart silently holds the back door open for me.
I kick my heels off and climb in, dropping them to the floorboard.
Before I can say anything, he slams the door closed and starts around to the driver's side. I fasten my seatbelt and reach for my purse to pull my phone out to call Chris, only to realize I don't have the clutch anymore.
I don't know where it is.
Stewart hops into the driver's seat and starts the engine.
"I've lost my purse."
"Jared will deal with it."
"Someone needs to deal with him before he kills Toby."
Stewart just grunts again.
Am I the only one worried that he might really kill Toby?
"Stewart?"
"He'll be fine."
Well, lovely.
"Whatever," I mumble. I'm too tired for this shit right now. "Where are we going?"
"To wait."
For what? I want to ask him. I just sigh and lean back against the seat instead.
I expect Stewart to take me to my apartment, though I have no idea how I'm supposed to get in without my keys. But half an hour later, we pass my exit and Stewart shows no signs of slowing.
"Where are we going?" I ask him again. The rain has soaked through my dress, giving me the chills. Adrenaline has bled away, and I'm exhausted. I'm sad and confused and proud of myself and a thousand other things, too. A hot bath and my bed sound better and better the longer we're on the road.
Stewart doesn't answer me.
"Stewart?" I lean toward him, thinking maybe he didn't hear me. "Where are we going?"
"Do you ever stop talking?" he asks, glancing at me in the rearview mirror.
"Excuse me?" I recoil from the anger stamped across his face. I don't know what I've done to piss him off, but the sheer hatred boiling in his expression throws me.
"Talking," he repeats. "Do you ever stop?"
What is he talking about? I think I've said more to him tonight than I have in the entire five years I've known him! I narrow my eyes, scrutinizing his expression. A muscle in his cheek jumps. His left leg bounces like he can't control it.
Something isn't right.
I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly chilled inside and out.
Why the hell didn't I refuse to get in the car with him?
Oh, right. Because Jared told me to go with him.
"What's going on?"
"I told you, I'm taking you to wait."
"For what?"
Stewart sighs loudly. "You coming back here was about the best thing you could have done, but then you had to go and get careless. Your little boyfriend almost killed Madeline. Now Corbit's back on task, and that's seriously messing up my plans."
"My boyfriend?" I gasp. "Jared would never hurt Madeline!"
Stewart offers me a grim smile in the mirror. "The other boyfriend, sweetheart."
The other–?
"Toby sawed through the branch?"
"Ding, ding, ding," Stewart says.
"Oh my God. Why would he do that?" I demand, though I'm not sure if I'm talking to Stewart or to myself. I'm winded again, horror twisting through me until I want to vomit. Not once have I even considered that Toby might be responsible for what happened to Maddi. I just assumed it was whoever was after Lexi. We all did.
"He waited for weeks to get you home alone, and the first time you were finally by yourself, Corbit showed up and ruined his plans." Stewart chuckles, amused by this fact. "I guess he decided to make sure you paid for it after he watched the two of you fucking in the pool, so he grabbed the saw the gardener left out and cut through the limb."
Toby came looking for me, and he found me with Jared?
I can't even wrap my mind around that. But… it makes sense, doesn't it?
That's why I hadn't heard from him until tonight.
That's why Maddi was hurt.
Toby caught me with Jared and wanted to make sure I suffered for it. Because that's what Toby does. He hurts people to make them do what he wants. And he couldn't get to me, so he hurt Maddi instead. Because he knew she loved that damn swing, and he fucking knew I'd blame myself when she was hurt. That I'd run. He separated me from Jared, and then sent that damn newspaper clipping to twist the knife a little deeper.
Something else occurs to me, freezing me in place.
Stewart didn't get to the mansion until Chris and I were leaving the night Maddi was hurt.
How did he know about what Jared and I did in the pool? Or that Toby saw us? Or what Toby did?
Oh my God.
"I'm going to throw up," I mumble, clamping a hand over my mouth.
Stewart swears loudly and swerves onto the side of the road.
Gravel still pops beneath the tires when I fling the door open and dive out. I land in the wet grass on the side of the highway. Before Stewart can climb out, I jump to my feet and take off. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm not stupid enough to stick around and try to figure out what the hell he wants with me either. I don't trust him.
"Son of a bitch!" Stewart yells behind me. His door slams shut.
I stumble along in my bare feet, twisting my ankle in the gravel. I keep running, waving my hands in the air like a crazy person, praying someone stops.
Of course they don't though.
I barely make it ten feet before Stewart grabs me around the waist, dragging me backward.
"Let me go!" I scream at him, kicking my feet and clawing at him, trying to force him to let me go.
He grunts when my heel connects with his shin, but he doesn't let me go.
Someone blows their horn as they fly past. They don't bother to slow down or come to my rescue though. People are too busy pretending not to notice what's happening to get involved. Just like they did in Italy. I'm not important to them… why should they care what happens to me? Or inconvenience themselves to help me?
"Stop fighting before I break your arm," Stewart hisses in my ear, wrenching my arm behind my back.
Pain radiates from my fingers to my shoulder and back again. I scream and try to wiggle free, but I can't. He's holding me too tightly. Trying to fight him off is like trying to fight off a grizzly. Worse. Because I know what a bear is capable of. I don't know what Stewart's capable of or even what he wants from me.
He tosses me back into the SUV. I land hard on my knees in the floorbo
ard.
"Try that again and I will kill you." He glares at me, panting.
I stare at him, taking deep breaths. My arm hurts, almost worse than my back did when I landed in the glass.
"You killed Matthew, didn't you?" I pant.
Stewart doesn't say anything. He just stands there. But I see the truth burning in his gaze.
He killed Matthew.
"Why?" I mumble a few minutes later. I'm still on my knees in the floorboard. My legs are so weak, I'm not sure I can move. All I can think is that Stewart murdered Matthew. He's the one trying to kill Lexi. And I don't understand why.
Stewart's back behind the wheel, waiting for a break in traffic so he can pull out onto the road again. He's child locked the doors so I can't get out again. I'm trapped, and I'm scared.
"He trusted you!" I say when he doesn't answer me. Anger and revulsion pound through me, shaking loose rage. I want to kill Stewart.
"Hardly, sweetheart." Stewart guns the engine.
I slip sideways, hissing when I try to catch my fall with the arm he almost broke. Stabbing pains run through it, an intense electrical current that brings tears to my eyes.
"Matthew's not the saint you think he is."
"He's better than you," I snap between gritted teeth, trying to wiggle my way back into the seat. I plop down and glare daggers at the back of Stewart's head.
"Don't be so sure of that. The same blood than ran in his veins runs in mine."
I think I'm beyond being shocked at this point and yet… I'm nowhere close.
My mouth falls opens, but no sound comes out.
Stewart notices. "He was my father," he says quietly.
I shake my head, trying to deny that.
Matthew and Caitlyn never had a son. They had three daughters. That was it.
"You're lying."
"No, I'm not." He shoots me another grim smile in the rearview mirror, the shadows acting like a mask, hiding his eyes. "Matthew Talbot was my father."
I think he's telling the truth. I don't know why, but I do.
"How?" I manage to ask him.
"Before he left for Oxford, he had an affair with my mother. She thought he'd marry her when he came home and realized he had a son, but he came home married to Caitlyn."
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